The present invention relates to spreadable corn syrup compositions and their methods of preparation. Generally, the corn syrup compositions of the present invention comprise corn syrup, fats and/or oils, such as butter, or vegetable oils, and optionally additional flavorings and preservatives.
With a greater understanding of the part that dietary fats play in the development of cardiovascular disease and other health concerns, many consumers have been trying to alter their eating habits. The health benefits of a low fat diet are well documented and well accepted. A significant source of dietary fat is the use of spreads such as butter or margarine. One way to reduce the fat content of such spreads is to replace some of the fat with sweeteners, such as corn syrup. Aside from being lower in fat, sweetened spreads are generally lower in calories than unaltered butter or margarine.
The mixing of some sweeteners with fats and/or oils may produce a number of undesirable characteristics in spread or syrup products. For example, mixing granulated or powdered sugars with fats and/or oils tends to create an undesirable texture that is unappealing to many consumers. Therefore many sweetened spreads use liquid sweeteners. However, the mixing of liquid sweeteners with fats or oils has been proven difficult to adequately disperse the two types of ingredients. While relatively small amounts of one component may disperse evenly with large amounts of the other component the task becomes more difficult when utilizing large amounts of each component.
Fats/oils do not normally mix well with most water based liquid ingredients, a common example is that of vinegar and oil used as a salad dressing. To keep the aqueous ingredients, which would include the liquid corn syrups and sweeteners, mixed with the oil type ingredients, which would include butter and oils of various types, it is beneficial to create an emulsion of the two different ingredients. Industry refers to the ingredients as falling into either the aqueous phase or the oil phase.
Emulsion technology can be done by any of several methods. One such method is to create an emulsion by utilizing mechanical technology. Embodiments of the present invention utilize a mechanical process to create an emulsion. However, the present invention may also utilize the other techniques available to create such an emulsion or combinations thereof. Other emulsion technology uses any of several chemical agents that help keep the oil and aqueous phases of ingredients from separating. It is envisioned that commercially a combination of the chemical and mechanical emulsifying methods would be used to make the spread of the present invention stable under a wider range of conditions, ingredient compositions, and applications.
In many types of spread compositions honey is utilized to add flavor and sweetness. Honey is a common liquid sweetener utilized in spreads and syrups. For example, honey butter is a sweetened spread that has probably existed for centuries. The composition is made by mixing honey with melted butter or margarine. There are many recipes that exist in the formulation of honey-butter compositions. They vary primarily in the proportions of honey and butter or margarine used. However, honey butter is relatively expensive due to the high cost of honey.
Honey butter can also present problems for some who may eat it. Ingestion of honey by very young children can be a concern because honey sometimes contains bacteria. In particular, occasionally honey contains the bacterium clostridium botuli. This is a particular concern when honey is ingested by very young children whose stomach fluids lack sufficient acidity to kill the botulinum bacteria. The bacteria then colonize the digestive tract and produce botulinum toxin and create a form of botulism poisoning from within.
Furthermore, honey has a distinctive flavor and amber color, which is desirable in some circumstances, but less desirable in others. Therefore, preparing food that is to highlight other flavors and/or colors may be inhibited by the distinct flavor and color of honey.
The present invention relates to a spreadable corn syrup composition. Generally, the composition is produced in a sweetened spread and can be used in many applications in place of products such as butter, margarine, jelly, jam, honey or other similar products. Furthermore, the composition of the present invention may be utilized for baking, marinating, basting or any other cooking and/or food preparation application.
The corn syrup spread is lower in fat and cholesterol than conventional syrups or spreads, but still provides a pleasing flavor and is compatible with many flavoring and coloring options. It generally is produced as a butter or margarine like spread. Moreover, corn syrup is microbially sterile and eliminates the risk posed by bacterial contamination of similar products, such as honey.
The corn syrup spread of the present invention includes 25% to 75% by weight corn syrup, preferably high fructose corn syrup, 25% to 75% fats and/or oils and optionally .1% to 10% preservatives and flavorings. The fat and/or oil is preferably butter or margarine but may include vegetable oil, such as corn oil, or other edible fats. Preservatives may include any preservative known to those skilled in the food arts including, but not limited to, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate or any other preservatives.
Additionally, the spreadable corn syrup composition of the present invention may include flavorings. A large variety of flavorings are compatible with the corn syrup composition of the present invention allowing for a great variety of applications ranging from fruit jelly and jam substitutes to garlic and onion flavored products.
In general, a mechanical technology is utilized to produce the corn syrup composition of the present invention. In various embodiments of the present invention, the fat/oil phase (butter) is heated to 80-110xc2x0 F. so as to melt the butter and concurrently the aqueous phase (high fructose corn syrup) was also heated to a similar temperature of 90-120xc2x0 F. Next, the oil phase ingredients are continuously agitated while the aqueous phase ingredients are slowly added to the oil phase ingredients. This resulting emulsion is then continuously agitated and then cooled to stabilize the emulsion into a solid form. Flavorings, emulsifiers and other ingredients may be optionally added to the oil or aqueous phases during the process. A preferable form of equipment used to create this type of emulsion is a scraped surface agitated heat exchanger or more commonly called by the brand name of the equipment a xe2x80x9cVotator.xe2x80x9d